


A Favor

by orphan_account



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2016-11-26
Packaged: 2018-09-01 13:49:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8626948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: During Jumin's route, Seven invites Yoosung over for Honey Buddha Chips and a favor.aka Seven and Yoosung's "picnic" with some creative additionsAll chats belong to Cheritz unless mentioned otherwise





	1. 1 - Chatroom

 

7 _07 has joined the chat room_

 **Yoosung ★** : Hey Seven!

 **707** : Yoosung!

 **707** : Do you still want those Honey Buddha Chips?

 **707** : The ones I've been eating five times a day?

 **Yoosung ★** : Of course!

 **Yoosung ★** : ... No way you'll give them to me.

 **707** : Yes way.

 **Yoosung ★** : What?

 **Yoosung ★** : ??!!?

 **707** : lolololol

 **707** : Yes way.

 **707** : I'll give them to you.

 **Yoosung ★** : For real? ;;;

 **Yoosung ★** : This easily?

 **Yoosung ★** : Are you going to test me or something?

 **707** : lololol

 **707** : U have to get happy

 **707** : While eating Honey Buddha Chips

 **707** : Do u wanna eat happiness, or not?

 **Yoosung ★** : I want!!!

 **707** : Okie. Done.

 **707** : ;)

 **707** : Yoosung,

 **707** : come to Seven's house tomorrow.

 **707** : You will be gifted with Honey Buddha Chips

 **Yoosung ★** : Seriously?

 **707** : Ya

 **Yoosung ★** : Yay! I don't have to eat the same bag for two weeks now!

 **Yoosung ★** : I can eat one bag at a time~!!

 **Yoosung ★** : I want them soon haha.

 **Yoosung ★** : :D

 **Yoosung ★** :  But, uhm...

 **Yoosung ★** : Your house?

 **Yoosung ★** : ???

 **707** : Ya.

 **707** : Then see you tmr!

 **707** : Good luck! bb

 **707** : >_<

 **707** : To catch the hacker!

 **707** : 707 to the rescue!

 **707** : Get out of the way!! lol

 **707** : Peace!

_707 has left the chatroom_

**Yoosung ★** : Seven!

 **Yoosung ★** : You can't just leave!

 **Yoosung ★** : ... OTL

 **Yoosung ★** : Seven's place...

 **Yoosung ★** : What was the address?

 **Yoosung ★** : And I have to go to school tomorrow...

 **Yoosung ★** : ... I guess I'll figure that out tomorrow.

_Yoosung ★ has left the chatroom._

-|-|-|-|-|-

_Yoosung ★ has joined the chatroom_

**Yoosung ★** : I'm so sleepy

 **Yoosung ★** : I was dozing off during lecture

 **Yoosung ★** : and the professor caught me;;

_707 has joined the chatroom_

**707** : Heya

 **707** : The commander has entered!

 **Yoosung ★** : What do you mean by commander?;;

 **707** : U don't know?

 **Yoosung ★** : I mean i know what it means, but still;;

 **Yoosung ★** : Oh, I meant to ask you something.

 **Yoosung ★** : What do you think? Is it because of Elizabeth that Jumin's not going to work?

 **Yoosung ★** : Or is he trying to rebel against his dad by ditching work?

 **Yoosung ★** : Or maybe both?

 **707** : ...

 **707** : I thought he was gonna

 **707** : marry Elly

 **707** : at his house??

 **Yoosung ★** : 0.0

 **Yoosung ★** : I doubt that's the case

 **Yoosung ★** : How can you think of that right now?

 **Yoosung ★** : I doubt that what he's trying to do no matter how much he loves his cat ;;;;

 **707** : God...

 **707** : You think so?

 **707** : Oh

 **707** : I wanna eat shaved ice

 **Yoosung ★** : ;;

 **Yoosung ★** : Stop joking;;

 **Yoosung ★** : iih

 **707** : Dude, typo

 **Yoosung ★** : prof is 4tihgt infont o eme

 **707** : Prof is right in front of you?

 **707** : just turn it off lololololol

 **Yoosung ★** : kkkkkkkkkk

 **707** : Just turn it off if you have time to say kkk

 **707** : addict lol

 **Yoosung ★** : -_-

 **707** : Im gonna go

 **707** : and get back to work now ^^

 **707** : I have to get rid of the bugs while eating my Honey Buddha Chips

 **Yoosung ★** : Oh right!!!

 **Yoosung ★** : You have to give me Honey Buddha chips!

 **Yoosung ★** : You're really gonna give them to me, right?

 **707** : Ya

 **707** : Come as soon as you finish class

 **707** : Then imma get going

_707 has left the chatroom_

**Yoosung ★** : ... Huh?

 **Yoosung ★** : But I still don't... know the address...

 **Yoosung ★** : Where do I go?

 **Yoosung ★** : ... I'll just call him until he picks up, and ask

 **Yoosung ★** : !!!jsiodkd!!

 **Yoosung ★** : Prof saw me!

_Yoosung ★ has left the chatroom_

-|-|-|-|-|-

Yoosung dropped his backpack heavily onto the chair in his apartment and glanced around quickly, wondering what he should bring with him considering Seven's house was over four hours away. He settled for his phone and headphones, a necessity these days, and checked the messaging app for the few minutes before he left.

He really wasn't feeling well- not sick or anything, but sick in the mind. He'd read those articles about Jumin to wave away boredom during class and couldn't get the disgust over them out of his head. Reporters and press pretended they knew more about the situation that they ever did, and the articles were scraps of truth within a whole lot of confidently portrayed guesses. It was gross, and Yoosung just wanted to take all of the bad media down before more could spread, but he didn't even know if that were possible in the first place. Everywhere he looked online gossiped about Jumin and Sarah, or the Chairman and Glam Choi.

He wrinkled his nose, talking about it with MC in the messenger. She was on her way to see Jumin, and though he was surprised about the course events were taking, he really hoped her presence would put some sense into him. He wished her luck and she returned the favor for his journey to see Seven and he exited the messenger, stretching his neck. He'd already changed and everything, but Seven's house was farther away than he might have wished, so he wanted to prepare himself.

 _For Honey Buddha_ , he thought solemnly, and pushed his way out of his door. _All for Honey Buddha._

"Are you heading to 707's?" questioned the security guard outside his door, and Yoosung's eyes widened in surprise.

"How did you know?"

"He already informed us," said the man, waving off his question, and Yoosung felt dumb. Of course Seven would have said something. He probably should have mentioned his plans too.

"I'm taking the bus, and Seven's going to keep watch through GPS," he added, wanting to feel like he was contributing somewhat here, but the guard was nodding in a way that said he already knew, and Yoosung felt sheepish. "I'll just... go then. Be back tomorrow."

"Have a safe trip, Mr. Kim."

Yoosung cheered up a bit at the formal title and waved goodbye, before walking out to the street.

The bus ride was long, and the route to Seven's house meant he had to change busses more than once to stay on track. It was more than a little stressful, along with the draining battery on Yoosung's phone, so he eventually had to restrain himself to just music if he hoped to arrive at Seven's with any battery left at all.

He got off the final bus just after eleven, the only person on besides a snoring old man in the backseat who probably should have got off several stops ago. He waved the bus off and called for a car, an unfriendly man who was probably about Zen or Jumin's age, but had none of their charm. Still, he thanked him profusely and tipped as much as he thought was generous, and waved the man off with enthusiasm.

Seven's house... was less a house, more an underground bunker, in the futuristic sense of the word. The security system and layout had been designed largely by Seven himself, and reflected the insanity that was his inner mental state in its existence.

He stood outside and knocked heavily on the door to announce him presence. No answer. He frowned, confused, and tried once more. "Seven?" Once again met with no response, he tried turning the door handle. "SEVEN!!"

"Answer the password," said the door, and Yoosung's yell caught in how throat so fast he almost choked.

"... What?" he asked, feeling dumb.

"How do you say 'I want to dance' in Arabic?" asked the door in a cool, feminine voice.

Yoosung gaped, feeling like his eyes were as wide as his slacken jaw. "... I don't know?" He hit the door with more ferocity. "Seven!!"

"How do you say 'I want to dance' in Arabic?" repeated the door, and Yoosung scowled.

"Who knows that?" he bemoaned. "SEVEN!! LUCIEL!! Open the door, it's Yoosung!!"

"How do you say-"

"Shut up!"

Annoyed, he opened the messenger again, and was royally pissed off to see Seven had logged on and was chatting with MC.

_Yoosung ★ has joined the chatroom_

**Yoosung ★** : Seven.

 **Yoosung ★** : Here you are.

 **MC** : Yoosung, where are you?

 **707** : Oh, Yoosung!

 **707** : Wassup!

 **707** : But why are you here? lol

 **707** : I told you to come to my place

 **Yoosung ★** : :)

 **Yoosung ★** : You're home, right?

 **707** : Ya.

 **707** : Why arent u coming?

 **707** : You don't like Honey Buddha Chips anymore?

 **707** : ???

 **MC** : Yoosung, is something going on?

 **Yoosung ★** : Something is going on

 **707** : Omg seriously? lol

 **707** : ?!!

 **707** : What?

 **707** : You cant come?

 **Yoosung ★** : Seven.

 **707** : Ya?

 **Yoosung ★** : Are you playing music out loud?

 **707** : Nah.

 **Yoosung ★** : Then are you wearing earplugs?

 **707** : ??? Nah.

 **Yoosung ★** : Is something wrong with your ears?

 **707** : lolololol what's wrong with u?

 **Yoosung ★** : OTL

 **Yoosung ★** : You're so mean...

 **Yoosung ★** : YOU'RE SO MEAN!!!

 **707** : What?

 **Yoosung ★** : I'm screaming my lungs out like this!!!

 **707** : What? Now?

 **MC** : Why are you screaming?

 **707** : Yeah;;;

 **707** : R u stressed out or something?

 **Yoosung ★** : Yes

 **Yoosung ★** : I'm stressed out right now.

 **707** : why? lol

 **Yoosung ★** : Where do you think I am right now?

 **707** : Dunno lol

 **707** : ... Where r u?

 **Yoosung ★** : IN FRONT OF YOUR HOUSE!!

 **Yoosung ★** : Open the door!!

 **707** : Omg.

 **707** : Already? lolololol

 **Yoosung ★** : -_-

 **707** : Sorry sorry

 **707** : I can't hear anything because of my security system

 **707** : I'll go out

 **707** : so just wait a second

 **Yoosung ★** : Hurry

 **Yoosung ★** : My throat hurts

 **707** : MC, i have to go lol

 **Yoosung ★** : I'll go offline too

 **MC** : lololololol go open the door, Seven~!!

 **707** : Ya

 **707** : I'm on my way!

 **Yoosung ★** : ;;

_Yoosung ★ has left the chatroom_

_707 has left the chatroom_

-|-|-|-|-|-

Yoosung banged more on the door to voice his displeasure, even with the knowledge that Seven was making his way to let him in.

"Seven!! Open the door~!!" he called, though his voice was already sore after being used so heavily.

"Alright, wait, wait," came a familiar voice just on the other side of the door, and Yoosung sighed in relief to himself, holding his hoodie closer in on himself to shield from what was quickly becoming a colder night.

The door clicked open and Yoosung blinked heavily under the abuse of the offensive light in his eyes, rather than the dim glow of night. Thankful, he stepped inside, not forgetting to give Seven a once over as the door closed behind him.

He hadn't seen his friend since the last party, a year and a half prior, and he hadn't changed much. It filled him with a sense of relief that the Seven he remembered was not dissimilar from the Seven before him- same jacket, same bulky headphones, same cross necklace, same hair, same tall height, same everything. It was comforting and he was thankful for it, even when Seven caught him staring and responded with a strange look.

"Seven... what the hell did you put in your security system?" Happy to see him or not, he wasn't going to forget his annoyance.

The smile on Seven's face was all too cheery, pleased and light. "I customized it specially. You like it?"

Yoosung snorted, starting to walk down the hall into where he knew the main room was. "I knew it. What kind of security system asks you to say 'I want to dance' in Arabic? Even camels at zoos can't understand their mother language, how the hell would I know that!?"

The smile faltered, but the hacker didn't looked upset, more offended. Or maybe teasing, Yoosung could never read Seven fully. "I've never had a problem until now. Mary Vanderwood got in just fine."

Yoosung gave the redhead a funny look. "She knows Arabic too? I thought she was just a maid?"

"She's my maid," Seven said simply, as though it explained everything- and it sort of did. "Anyways, quit with the depressing talk." The talk hadn't been depressing, but Yoosung bit his tongue. "Just study up on Arabic~"

In the main floor, an open room with computers all over and wires tangled on the floor, Yoosung narrowed his eyes at Seven. "How the hell would I study Arabic?!"

Seven was annoyed, Yoosung thought, and scoffed. "It's easy~. Don't they teach you in middle school?"

Yoosung really, really wished he knew when Seven was joking or not. "... Seven? What kind of middle school did you go to?"

The silence in the air was damn near penetrable, but Seven didn't take long to break it, smiling the way he did so that his eyes closed a little. "Never mind. But are you ready to take the chips?"

Yoosung's demeanor changed almost without his realizing it, becoming eager and giddy. "Oh, of course! Gimme, gimme!" He'd nearly forgotten about the reason for his visit during the excitement (for lack of a better word) of the the security system.

Seven smiled in a way Yoosung could have sworn was fond, but in a way he also knew wasn't completely like Seven, and snatched a bag from what looked like his main work desk. He tossed it and Yoosung nearly fumbled when he tried to catch it, but managed to. His face lit up and he cradled the bag with a surprising gingerness. "Yay! But wait, you said you'd give me boxes."

The smile on Seven's face was more familiar now, cheeky and pleased with himself. "Of course I'll give you boxes! If you just help me with one thing, I'll give you half the Honey Buddha Chips I have."

Yoosung couldn't help his mouth from sliding open with a near-audible sound. A proposal like that would never be made lightly by Seven... the guy loved his chips with the parts of his heart that weren't devoted to his sport's cars and Jumin's cat, and the idea he was giving up even half of them was so absurd Yoosung felt like he may be dreaming. He almost wanted to check Seven's temperature or pull at his hair to check it wasn't some creature disguised as Seven.

"... And you have a whole warehouse of them?" Yoosung have questioned, half reminded, wondering if it may pull Seven back to his senses.

The smile on Seven's face was too wide. "I already wrapped the ones I want to give to you. I'll show it to you later."

Come to think of it, Yoosung did remember him mentioning decorating boxes of chips in the chat... he'd have to check the boxes for booby traps the second he got them.

"Wrapped! Wow, you're prepared!" Yoosung gushed, stunned. "... But, I thought you were busy catching the hacker? You had time to wrap them?"

It was the wrong thing to say- Seven's smile dropped and he turned his gaze to his computer with contempt. "... I can't just work all day."

"Oh... ok," Yoosung said, stumbling over his words in a hurried attempt to placate. "Just tell me what I can do." He smiled, big and wide and white. The smile was still gone from Seven's face, but the situation was less tense.

"First, just eat that and wait. I'll tell you when I get things organized."

Yoosung made a confused face, furrowing his eyebrows. "Okay! Then... can I spend the night here?" It was already pretty late, 11:30 at the earliest, and he felt tired. If Seven needed to prepare stuff, he wasn't going to stay awake much longer no matter how much he tried.

Seven shrugged, seeming more distracted now. "Yeah, just sleep anywhere. Or play LOLOL on the computers I'm not using."

>>play LOLOL

>>play

>>LOLOL

>>PLAY LOLOL

His brain short circuited, eyes flirting around the room at the various high speed and high powered monitors lining the room, many of which didn't appear to currently be in use. The slightly amused glint in Seven's eye didn't escape his attention, and Yoosung stopped himself forcibly, cheeks rising with pink while he did.

"Okay," he said, gaze noting the largest and centermost monitor with curiosity. "But what's with that monitor? That looks like GPS satellite video?" The aerial view showed a large house with a green, clean looking roof. He wanted a closer look. "Are you watching over something?" he asked, excited. "... It looks like you're spying on someone's house. That's not it though, right?"

In a very uncharacteristic way, Seven turned away from Yoosung, pretty much ignoring him with something almost akin to distaste on his face. It made Yoosung uneasy.

"Don't care about that, and wait. Let me work a little." Seeing Yoosung's slightly hurt and confused look, he appeared to relent a bit. "I have to find all the security devices and CCTV to leave."

Though the explanation was given to pacify and allied some confusion, it did the opposite to Yoosung.

"Security devices? ... CCTV? Leave to where?"

Seven gave Yoosung a slow look. "... There."

"Where's there?"

"The playground..." He said it slow, like Yoosung was a child.

"Playground?" Questioned the younger blonde, leaning forward with innocent curiosity.

"Yeah..." confirmed Seven, and that was the end of the explanation. "But will you keep quiet? I have to focus."

Yoosung's smile, when he gave it, was more strained than normal. "Okay, got it!" He wasn't normally like this, even with Seven, but the guy was getting on his nerves today.

"Thanks," said Seven, turning to his monitor.

"... But," Yoosung began.

"Hey, it hasn't even been three seconds," said Seven, and Yoosung was thankful to hear more amusement than irritation in his tone now.

"Sorry... I'll stay quiet. So just tell me which computer I can use to play LOLOL." Yoosung was examining each computer, not sure of the differences between all of them besides that some had different sized monitors than others.

The hacker shrugged, uncaring. "Just use whatever you see."

"Okay! Wow... Seven, this graphic card's the latest model," Yoosung almost cooed, sitting in front of the biggest computer excitedly. "And that monitor- so cool!"

"Yeah." Seven sounded distracted, already at work. "Have fun playing."

Yoosung glanced back at Seven, a few questions running through his brain, but he forced them back. Instead, he set up the computer and loaded LOLOL, astonished at the speed with which it ran. _Hell yeah- jackpot!_


	2. Waiting Game

Yoosung yawned, cracking his knuckles and opening yet another bag of Honey Buddha Chips contentedly. He'd just finished yet another event with ease and was feeling pretty good and happy, even though he'd had his doubts about coming at all. The experience had been surreal so far.

While waiting for the next available event, he turned on his phone- now plugged into an outlet, thank goodness- and checked the messenger once more. It had only been about an hour and a half since him, MC, and Seven had posted in it- really? Felt much longer- so he wasn't surprised to see no new messages or chats anyway.

Bored, he opened a chat himself to leave some messages for the other members to return to.

 _Yoosung_ ★ _has joined the chatroom_

 **Yoosung** **★** : I'm so happy~~~~~~!

 **Yoosung** **★** : This must be paradise!

 **Yoosung** **★** : I have a bag of Honey Buddha Chips by my side,

 **Yoosung** **★** : and I'm eating without thinking about how much I have left, lol

 **Yoosung** **★** : Perfect! Seven's super nice.

Outside the chatroom, Yoosung grimaced at his own words, unsure they really fit the context. But... credit was given where it was due.

 **Yoosung** **★** : I had no idea he'd give me Honey Buddha Chips AND let me use his computer.

 **Yoosung** **★** : I thought, since he's such a computer guy

 **Yoosung** **★** : he'd been really ocd about it lol

 **Yoosung** **★** : But he's letting me do whatever I want on it lolol

Now that he'd brought it up, he wondered about it too- it didn't really fit Seven to be so lax about his expensive stuff. Maybe Seven trusted him not to do anything bad- in which case, he was touched. Seven's trust was a difficult thing to earn.

 **Yoosung** **★** : I thought my desktop from Banana was pretty good.

 **Yoosung** **★** : But it's really nothing lol

 **Yoosung** **★** : But

 **Yoosung** **★** : What's Seven doing?

He stared at what he'd typed, not meaning to have sent it, but he had. He glanced over his should to the aforementioned redhead engrossed in his computer screen, as he had been ever since he'd told Yoosung to keep quiet, and grimaced before returning to the messenger.

 **Yoosung** **★** : I wish Seven would give me some attention too.

He blinked at his words under his thumbs, disbelieving that he'd actually typed that, but quickly realized they were true- he hadn't seen his friend in literally over a year, he would have liked a warmer welcome and an environment in which they could hang out more casually, but that wasn't in Seven's plans.

 **Yoosung** **★** : he's been staring at this photo of a building for a while now...

 **Yoosung** **★** : I hope he's not messing around

 **Yoosung** **★** : Instead of trying to catch that hacker.

A pop-up appeared on the screen and his eyes reacted instantly, reading the details before hurriedly typing into the messenger.

 **Yoosung** **★** : I got an alert for an event!

 **Yoosung** **★** : so I'll get going!

 _Yoosung_ ★ _has left the chatroom_

He sat his phone to the side and excitedly started up the event, tapping his finger lightly on the mouse, so enraptured he didn't even hear movement behind him until Seven was leaning over his back, arms loose around his neck and chin on his shoulder. The blonde stiffened, surprised, but quickly relaxed. Not that anyone could ever completely relax around Seven, but he got as close as he could.

"You must be exhausted," Yoosung observed, watching the computer load the game slowly, waiting for more people to fill the lobby. "I bet your eyes hurt."

"'m fine," Seven disagreed, betrayed by the light slur of his tone and the yawn he thought he hid. "Just... needed a second."

"You need a nap," Yoosung informed him, feeling motherly- in a good way, in a way that made him feel like a good friend. "Like, ten."

"That too," Seven agreed, amused, and removed himself from Yoosung. There was a strange bit of mourning felt at the loss of pressure, but then again it wasn't everyday that Yoosung felt physical affection from Seven.

"Are you sure you don't want help with anything?" Yoosung asked hesitantly, stiffening as the game started up at last. "Er- nevermind."

Seven laughed lightly. "No, I'm fine. We probably won't leave until late morning though, so sleep at some point."

"Only if you do," said Yoosung, positioning himself in preparation. The laugh came again, and Yoosung smiled too.

"Uh huh, totally," said Seven, voice farther, presumably returning to his station, and Yoosung's match began.

Fifteen minutes later, Yoosung stretched out his fingers and watched his name flash next to the acronym "MVP", as it always did. He sighed, feeling his eyes shutter shut almost instantly. Normally he was good with staying up extremely late and rising early for school, but it seemed like the trip had wore him out. He jumped to his feet and unplugged his phone to bring with him.

"I'm going to sleep," he announced, walking up behind Seven. The slightly older boy didn't respond, and Yoosung made an expression of distaste, stepping closer and poking Seven's shoulder. "Hyung, I'm going to sleep."

Seven grunted, very clearly distracted, and Yoosung took that as a noise of understanding. The blonde looked over the image on the monitor, actually looking at it for the first time since arriving- the building wasn't just a house, it was gigantic from the look of it. The roof was a calming mint green and the walls were white- it was a very pretty place.

"Find anything?" he asked, genuinely curious but also with a tired yawn in his voice that betrayed his growing exhaustion. Seven shrugged in answer.

"Maybe."

"Better than nothing," Yoosung said, not incredibly bothered by the short response (incredibly bothered by the short response). "Don't stay up the whole night."

"You're not my mom," Seven said, raising a chip to his mouth. Yoosung laughed.

"No, but I am your friend." He sat his hand on Seven's shoulder for about half a second, and then turned down the long hallway opposite of where they'd entered. "Goodnight!"

"'Night~."

The likelihood of Seven coming to sleep was near zero, but Yoosung was still hesitant to take the bed in that case. Instead, he sat himself on the large, soft couch Seven had sitting in the corner of his room, with enough space and pillows to be a bed. He hadn't brought any spare clothes with him, he realized belatedly, but figured it didn't matter too much- he took off his sweatshirt and sat it to the side to feel more like he'd changed anyway, though his unsheltered arms protested by raising goose bumps.

He curled himself up on the cushions and was surprised by the comfort, tucking pillows under his head and anywhere else he felt needed support, and covering himself with a sheet stolen from Seven's untouched-looking bed. he sighed, closing his eyes even as his mind continued to race.

He wondered if MC had gone home from Jumin's yet, and if Jumin was doing better than he had been thanks to her help. He wondered about Zen's dream for a few seconds, contemplating the possibility that Elizabeth may actually disappear- it didn't seem likely, with the penthouse Jumin owned acting like a fortress.

He also worried a bit for Seven. He hoped the guy ate a proper meal every once in a while, despite the jokes about chips. He also hoped the guy got a good night's sleep occasionally, not that he expected that to be truth. He yawned, turned his cheek to press against the pillow he had underneath his head, and sighed tiredly.

He wondered what Seven wanted out of him, and that question was the one he went to sleep thinking about.

\---

It was ten before Yoosung woke up, and several seconds after that before he remembered where he was.

Yawning, he set into the bathroom and swished water around his mouth while he brushed his fingers through his hair, flattening it down to a semi-normal state. He left the clips out for now, not in the mood, and sat them in his sweatshirt pocket. Spitting, he stretched himself out and left the bathroom to find Seven.

Seven looked unaffected by the time that had passed, minus the growth in the number of Honey Buddha Chips and PhD Peppers surrounding his computer table. The screen didn't appear to have changed either, and Yoosung scanned the screen to see if he could find any sort of changes since the night before- nothing. It looked like the most mind-numbingly boring thing he could ever imagine doing.

"Have you taken a break?" Yoosung asked, voice deep and unused, and Seven threw him a look over his shoulder. He shook his head, and then returned to his computer.

"Good talk," Yoosung said, strained and cheery, and snatched a bag of chips for himself before sitting in front of the computer to start up some LOLOL. "How long until we leave?"

"Soon," Seven hummed, distracted as always. "An hour, at most."

"Just let me know," Yoosung said, though the closeness of the time excited him. The computer started up at an exceptional speed and Yoosung wasn't going to complain about it, simply loading up LOLOL. "What are you doing, anyway?"

"Stuff. I'm busy." His voice made it clear he wasn't going t talk further about it and Yoosung sighed, turning away and to the computer.

Fine. Whatever. He couldn't help but worry for Seven's health, wondering if this was really what he did all the time- stay up without sleep, eat chips and drink soda, and stare at a bright screen. Knowing Seven, this was likely a regular thing of his.

As LOLOL finally loaded onto the screen, he opened the messenger on his phone to glance through the chatrooms that had taken place while he was asleep. As he read the latest one, from about fifteen minutes prior, he jumped out of his seat and ran across the room to Seven, squatting on the floor beside his chair. "Hyung!"

"What?" Seven asked, a little too short to be casual- he was annoyed, but Yoosung was undeterred, pushing his phone over to the older boy to see.

"Jimin says Elizabeth is missing?" he said, phrasing it more like a question in his disbelief. Seven yelped, snatching the phone from Yoosung with such force that his chair teetered backwards and Yoosung almost fell over in surprise.

"Elly?!" he cried, scrolling through the messages to confirm what Yoosung had said while the shorter boy nodded quickly.

"Jumin says that she just-"

"- ran out the door," Seven finished, his mouth half-slackened in horror. "Holy shit. She actually ran away."

Yoosung shivered, a little bit freaked out. "You don't think... Zen's dream?"

"No way," Seven disagreed, shaking his head slowly, still scrolling on Yoosung's phone. "No. But- still. Wow."

"What should we do?" Yoosung asked, feeling a little foolish for asking, but still looking for guidance in this situation. Seven didn't answer for a few moments, engrossed in reading over the chat, and then handed the phone back over with a shake of his head.

"Nothing, I guess. Believe me, I'm sure Jumin has it covered. The guy loves Elly more than I do, and that's really saying something."

Yoosung could agree wholeheartedly with that statement. "... Yeah. Alright. Get back to work."

"That's what I do," Seven said with a wink, and mussed up Yoosung's carefully-straightened hair playfully. "It won't be long. Just sit back and eat to your heart's content."

"Sounds good to me!" Yoosung said, grinning, grabbing a few more bags and returning to his own computer to the side. By the time he'd sat back down, Seven was once again entranced by the castle with the green roof on his screen, and LOLOL had fully loaded. Shutting off his phone, he sat his headphones over his ears and went in.

Seven was right, there was no way Jumin would ever let his cat stay lost.

\---

It was noon and Yoosung was bored out of his mind, and it made absolutely no sense.

It was clear now that Seven's estimate of the wait being only an hour was pretty far off, and despite his attempts to be understanding, he was bordering on pissed at this point. He understood- well, he actually didn't understand at all, he _assumed_ \- that whatever Seven was doing wasn't simple, and it probably took a lot more work than he could easily see. He trusted that that had to be the case, because he could not for the life of him fathom the reason Seven had been spending the last twelve hours staring at what appeared to be the same few pictures of a castle in a forest.

He stood up from his desk and paced for a few minutes, stretching out his back. Yoosung considered himself well skilled in the art of sitting still and not moving for hours on end, but he was restless here. No new chats had popped up since the conversation about Elizabeth's initial disappearance, and he was refraining as best he could from messaging MC, Jumin, or Jaehee about it, certain they were busy enough anyway.

Speaking of MC, he couldn't help but think of how fucked up it was that Jumin was pretty much forbidding her to leave his apartment now. How long had they known each other? Not even eight days? Creepy. He loved Jumin, but that was more than a little obsessive. He put it down to it being a sensitive period in Jumin's life. Nonetheless, he wondered how MC was doing, locked up in Jumin's gigantic complex like some sort of pet.

Man, he was sounding like Zen. That probably wasn't a completely good thing either.

He could sympathize with Jumin to a point- he also had the deep desire to hold those he cared about close and to never let them go, but he would never actually infringe on their personal well-being like that. That was gross.

He stopped pacing and sat on the steps, dropping his head onto his knees. Shit was fucked.

It didn't take much looking around to figure out what Jumin was doing to find his cat (still missing, evidently). There was an ad on Naver with Elizabeth's photo plastered on it, asking for anyone to contact a number (probably Jaehee's) if they had any information whatsoever surrounding her. Awed, he opened up a chat on the messenger and was pleased to see that it didn't take long for someone to join up- MC.

 **Yoosung ★** : Did you see the ad on Naver?

 **MC** : He put up an ad already... I hope he finds the cat soon thanks to that

 **Yoosung★** : I know!

 **Yoosung★** : I think it might work since a lot of people will see it,

 **Yoosung★** : but I hope he finds her soon!

 **Yoosung★** : I can't believe Elizabeth is missing T_T

 **Yoosung★** : I was studying like a good student

 **Yoosung★** : ... JK

 **Yoosung★** : I stood up all night playing and went to bed late at Seven's place.

 **Yoosung★** : So I didn't know about it...

 **Yoosung★** : Where the hell do you think Elizabeth went?

 **MC:** No one knows that... I hope he finds her soon.

 **Yoosung★** : Yeah...

 **Yoosung★** : Elizabeth spent her whole life at Jumin's house, growing up like a princess

 **Yoosung★** : So she might not survive long in the wild outside world.

 **Yoosung★** : JUmin must be having a nervous breakdown

 **Yoosung★** : I was just about to feel happy for eating all the Honey Buddha Chips I want at Seven's house...

 **Yoosung★** : But this is so depressing T_T

 **Yoosung★** : You would know too, but Elizabeth is more than just a cat to Jumin.

 **Yoosung★** : Seven even imagined them getting married someday.

Yoosung paused, looking in the direction of said redhead, and smiling with light amusement even amidst his stress. Seven had been the one to imagine them getting married, but Yoosung and several other members of the RFA would very willingly agree that the possibility was all too real. Well, maybe less so now that MC was involved... and now that Elizabeth had gone missing.

He winced at the reminder and returned to the chat.

 **Yoosung★** : He must be having a really hard time right now...

 **Yoosung★** : More than anything else, I hope we find her safe and healthy

 **MC** : I'm sure she'll come back safely and see Jumin again!

 **Yoosung★** : She meant so much to him.

 **Yoosung★** : There's no way Elizabeth doesn't know that.

 **Yoosung★** : Elizabeth will come back!!!

 **Yoosung★** : I would have searched for her myself

 **Yoosung★** : ... I was supposed to go to school this morning

 **MC** : Shouldn't you at least go to school T_T

 **Yoosung★** : I wanted to

 **Yoosung★** : But Seven kept asking me to go somewhere

 **Yoosung★** : but we didn't actually leave yet........

 **Yoosung★** : So I have no choice but to stay here;;;;

Yoosung laughed a little at himself, a mental image appearing of two prisoners talking to each other in their neighboring cells about their imprisonments.

 **Yoosung★** : I've never felt this pathetic about myself

 **Yoosung★** : And LOLOL got kind of boring after playing so long;;

 **Yoosung★** : I wish Seven would just leave soon

 **Yoosung★** : Why is he stalling so long?

 **MC** : Where are you two planning to go?

 **Yoosung★** : I want to know that too...

Yoosung glanced up again at the redhead. "Hey, Seven?"

"We'll leave before the evening," Seven promised, as though reading his mind. Yoosung was half inclined to believe he had, but didn't voice this.

 **Yoosung★** : According to Seven, we'll definitely believe before the evening

 **Yoosung★** : I wish we could just go look for Elizabeth together!

 **Yoosung★:** Elizabeth....

 **Yoosung★** : Wherever you are...

 **Yoosung★** : Just be safe and sound!

 **Yoosung★** : I don't want any of my friend's pets to get hurt or die

 **Yoosung★** : I don't ever want that to happen!

He froze, fingers still, and stared at what he'd just wrote with some amount of stunned horror.

... Oh. So that was what this was about, his whole disordered and restless mental state.

Sometimes, he really wished his whole life and mind didn't revolve around Rika.

 **MC** : That won't happen

 **Yoosung★** : Elizabeth is a unique breed, so...

 **Yoosung★** : Someone could be taking care of her right now. I hope so.

 **Yoosung★** : I need some time to calm myself down.

 **Yoosung★** : so I should just go see what Seven is up to now. lol.

 **Yoosung★** : He might be able to find Elizabeth, maybe I should ask him.

 **Yoosung★** : Now that it's been a while

 **MC** : You might be right. Go ahead.

 **Yoosung★** : Okay!

 **Yoosung★** : I'll tell you right away if I get some good news!

 **Yoosung★** : Then I'll get going!

 **Yoosung★** : See you later!

_Yoosung★ has left the chatroom_


End file.
